The  Last  Refiige  of  the  Red  Man  ! — The 
CJmrch  and  02t7'  Westeiii  Tribes. 

ip~~  ^jlWO  centuries  and  a half  of  war  and  treaty-making  with  the  ab- 
r original  owners  of  our  soil  by  a nominally  Christian  nation,  have 

left  them  stripped  of  their  lands,  reduced  in  numbers  to  less  than 

350,000  souls,  without  the  knowledge  or  means  requisite  for  self- 

support,  naked,  wandering  and  destitute  on  the  outer  verge  of  our  civilization. 
Around  them,  year  by  year,  are  drawing  those  fatal  lines  of  frontier  settle- 
ment, which  in  their  long  and  bitter  experience  with  white  men  they  have 
learned  with  so  much  reason  to  dread,  and  which,  closing  in  now  on  all 
sides  in  the  rapid  processes  of  our  Western  growth,  must  in  a very  few 
years,  like  the  sure  and  regular  approaches  of  a beleaguering  army,  drive 
them  into  their  last  retreat  and  accomplish  their  final  destruction.  In  ex 
change  for  the  lands  which  we  have  taken  from  this  people,  and  which  we 
now  occupy  with  our  cities  and  churches,  we  have  given  them  all  the  vices 
belonging  to  our  lowest,  most  degraded  forms  of  civilization,  even  teaching 
them  moral  ofi'ences  which  in  their  savage  nature  they  knew  not  of,  and  com- 
municating new  and  horrible  forms  of  physical  disease  and  death  among 
them.  By  a strange  perversity  which  ])Uts  to  shame  all  heathen  blindness, 
we  have  acknowledged  the  manhood  of  this  people  to  be  of  an  heroic  type, 
enshrining  their  fortitude,  valor  and  eloquence  in  our  choicest  literature,  and 
interweaving  their  poetic  names  and  majestic  legends  with  the  history  and 
daily  life  of  the  nation,  and  yet,  as  a people,  we  have  withheld  from  them  the 
light  and  blessings  of  Christianity — even  of  what  is  known  as  Christian 
government,  and  have  assiduously  ministered  to  and  actually  cultivated  their 
lowest  appetites  and  passions.  It  has  been  the  “Indian  Policy”  of  our 
Government  to  pamper  and  stimulate  their  native  vanity  and  indolence,  and 
to  supply  them  with  the  weapons  of  savage  war.  While  we  have  rendered 
their  permanent  instruction  and  Christian  training  impossible  by  the  frequent 
removal  of  the  tribes  from  place  to  place  under  our  wretched  Treaty  System, 
we  have  never  failed  to  provide  at  an  immense  cost  for  supplies  of  trinkets, 
war-paint,  tomahawks  and  scalping-knives  ; and  that  they  might  not  be 
tempted  to  forsake  their  savage  ways  and  learn  the  industrial  arts  (it  would 
almost  seem)  the  Government  has  fed  them  with  rations  or  by  annuity 
money.  The  key  to  most  of  this  injustice  and  inconsistency  in  our  dealings 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  is  found  in  the  necessities  of  partisan  politics,  which 


2 


have  compelled  the  distribution  of  Indian  contracts  and  agencies  as  among 
the  choicest  spoils  of  party  triumphs.  Within  the  past  forty  years  over  five 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  have  been  expended  by  the  Government  in  In- 
dian wars — caused  by  the  oppressions,  frauds  and  injustice  practised  by  the 
political  agents  and  traders.  “ I have  lived  on  this  frontier  fifty  years,”  says 
General  Harney,  “ and  I have  never  known  an  instance  in  which  war  broke 
out  between  us  and  these  tribes  that  these  tribes  were  not  in  the  right.” 

At  length  in  the  latter  days  of  this  deeply  wronged  and  injured  peo- 
ple, God  in  His  mercy,  it  would  certainly  appear,  has  opened  the  door  for 
their  deliverance.  For  the  first  time  in  the  histor}'  of  this  Government  the 
experiment  is  being  tried  of  dealing  justly  and  mercifully  with  our  aboriginal 
brethren,  as  with  reasonable  and  accountable  beings,  entitled  to  our  protec- 
tion and  care,  and  with  whom  it  is  desirable  on  every  account  that  we  should 
live  at  peace.  For  the  past  three  years  the  Nation  has  witnessed,  and  Christian 
people  ever)'where  have  watched  with  joy,  the  operation  of  this  new  Peace 
Policy.  That  it  is  proving  a complete  success,  the  intelligent  reader  of  these 
pages  will  hardly  need  to  be  informed.  The  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners 
in  their  last  Report  [1870]  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  declare  : 

Increased  experience  in  dealing  with  the  Indians  only  tends  to  confirm  the  Board  more  and 
more  in  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  of  peace  so  uniformly  advocated  by  the  President,  and  supported 
by  the  liberality  of  Congress  and  the  humane  sympathies  of  the  people;  and  the  Board  confident- 
ly look  forward  to  the  day  when  the  bitterness  which  now  assails  this  policy  in  some  parts  of  the 
United  States,  where  it  is  least  understood,  will  fill  a page  in  history  as  unnatural  and  curious  as 
that  which  records  the  old  hatred  against  freedom  and  the  friends  of  the  slave 

WHAT  IS  THE  NEW  PEACE  POLICY.? 

The  main  features  of  this  Policy  are  : i.  The  withdrawal  of  the  nomina- 
tion of  Indian  Agents  from  among  the  gifts  secured  by  party  patronage ; or, 
in  other  words,  the  removal  of  the  Indian  from  the  arena  of  party  politics. 
2.  The  apportionment  of  the  several  tribes  to  the  moral  keeping  and 
training  of  the  dift'erent  religious  societies,  to  whom  also  is  assigned  the  duty 
and  responsibility  of  selecting  and  supervising  the  Agents  ; and,  3,  The  joint 
superintendence,  with  the  Government,  of  all  the  tribes,  and  their  careful 
yearly  visiting  and  inspection  by  a Board  of  Indian  Commissioners  composed 
of  eminent  philanthropic  and  Christian  citizens.  Under  this  policy  the 
Methodists,  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Congregational ists.  Reformed  Dutch, 
Roman  Catholics  and  Friends  have  each  been  allotted  the  guardianship  of 
tribes  and  parts  of  tribes,  and  the  appointment  of  their  Agents,  and  under 
this  policy,  with  the  distinct  understanding  that  the  trust  is  to  be  kept  free 
fr(?m  all  political  entanglements,  the  Church  in  the  United  States  has  accepted 
her  share  of  the  obligations  devolving  upon  the  members  of  her  communion 
as  good  citizens  and  Christians.  The  denominational  bodies  have  entered 
the  field  in  earnest,  and  are  planting  their  schools  eveiy^where.  The  Govern- 
ment is  pledged  to  the  protection  of  the  tribes  on  their  different  Reservations, 


and  small  appropriations  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  Agents  for  the  erection  of 
school-houses  for  the  Indians.  Everything  seems  favorable,  at  length,  ayid 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Government,  we  repeat,  for  the  training 
and  Christian  civilization  of  this  remnant  of  a most  interesting  people. 

OUR  JUBILEE  YEAR  SHOULD  PROCLAIM  THEIR  DELIVER- 
ANCE ! 

This  golden  opportunity  of  the  Church  has  fallen  to  her  in  the  fiftieth 
year  of  her  Missions,  and  it  well  becomes  her  to  celebrate  this  her  first  Jubi- 
lee by  a special  effort  directed  to  the  liberation  of  these  heathen  from  the 
bonds  of  ignorance  and  vice  in  which — it  must  be  said  to  her  unspeakable 
shame — she  has  indirectly  helped  to  retain  them.  Forty-five  years  ago  our 
fathers  solemnly  proclaimed  it  to  be  “among  the  earliest  and  best  pur- 
poses” of  our  Society  of  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missions,  then  just  formed, 
“ to  take  an  efficient  part  in  the  great  and  benevolent  work  of  extending  to 
the  Indian  tribes  the  blessings  of  Christianity.”  How  have  we  kept  that 
pledge  t Alas  for  our  heavy  sin  ! The  remembrance  of  the  cruel  apathy, 
the  selfish  indifference  and  the  unwillingness  to  endure  the  trial  of  prolonged 
Missionaiy  effort  among  them  should  humble  us  in  the  dust.  But  God  has 
been  merciful  to  us  and  blessed  us  and  permitted  us  to  behold  the  light  of 
His  countenance  in  the  noble  fruits  of  our  recent  labors  in  their  behalf 
He  has  raised  up  for  us  a Bishop  who  has  given  his  life  for  their  sake,  and 
to  whom  more  than  to  any  other  man  is  this  Nation  indebted  for  the  reversal 
of  that  inhuman  policy  which  has  governed  its  relations  with  these  Indians 
in  the  past.  It  has  remained  also  for  the  Church  to  prove,  by  her  pure  Gos- 
pel teaching  and  the  self-denying  labors  of  one  of  her  Missionaries,  the  power 
which  the  Christian  religion  can  exert  over  the  most  warlike  of  the  Western 
tribes.  No  brighter  example  of  this  power  of  the  Cross,  and  no  more  won- 
derful illustration  of  Missionary  success  is  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the 
Gospel  among  the  heathen  than  this  triumph  of  our  Mission  among  the 
Santee  Sioux.  And  finally,  as  a crowning  token  of  Divine  mercy  and  good 
will,  we  are  permitted  to  behold,  for  the  first  time  in  many  years,  the  draw- 
ing near  to  each  other  of  brethren  long  divided  in  our  Home  and  Foreign 
work,  and  the  perfecting  of  an  organization  known  as  the  Indian  Commis- 
sion, composed  of  clergymen  and  laymen  of  diverse  schools  of  thought  in 
the  Church,  but  of  one  mind  and  purpose  in  the  task  assigned  to  them,  and 
full  of  zeal  for  the  success  of  the  new  Indian  Missions.  These  are  the  health- 
ful and  cheering  auspices  under  which  the  Church  returns  to  her  work  of 
giving  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  tribes  of  America. 

THE  FIELD  AND  THE  WORK. 

The  Indian  Commission,  which  is  charged  by  General  Convention 
and  the  Board  of  Missions  with  the  oversight  and  direction  of  the  Missions 
to  the  Indians,  and  the  nomination  to  the  Government  of  Agents  for  certain 


4 


tribes  placed  under  the  training  of  the  Church,  is  composed  of  fifty  clerg)  men 
and  laymen,  selected  from  differents  parts  of  the  countrj'.  The  Commission 
acts  in  connection  with  and  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Domestic 
Committee  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  and  its  duties  are  delegated  to  an  Ex- 
ecutive Committee,  with  an  office  at  the  Mission  Rooms  [22  Bible  House]  in 
New  York.  The  Indian  tribes  for  whose  welfare  and  moral  and  religious 
training  the  Church  has  consented  to  become  responsible,  belong  mostly  to 
the  Sioiix  or  Dacota  Nation,  the  most  formidable  of  the  Northwestern  sav- 
ages, and  believed  to  number  between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  souls.  Our 
Missions  to  these  Indians  are  limited  at  present  to  the  Santee  and  Yankton 
Reservations  on  the  Missouri  river,  near  the  boundary  line  which  separates 
Nebraska  and  Dacota,  the  Saniees  being  in  Nebraska  and  the  Yanklons  twenty- 
five  miles  above,  on  the  opposite  or  east  bank  of  the  Missouri,  in  Dacota. 
Immediately  across  the  river  from  the  Vanktons  are  the  Poncas,  a tribe  long 
hostile  to  the  Sioux,  but  for  -many  years  friendly  to  the  whites,  and  gathered 
upon  a Reservation  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  within  the  boundaries  of 
the  new  Indian  Territory  of  the  Northwest,  to  which  our  Church  has  given 
the  name  of  Niobrara,  attaching  it  for  the  time  being  to  the  Episcopal  juris- 
diction of  Bishop  Clarkson.  \Ve  have  planted  a l\Iission  among  the  Poncas 
and  are  now  seeking  to  extend  our  work  further  up  the  river,  where  the  Lower 
B rules,  the  Yanktonais,  the  Tivo  I^eltles,  the  Softs  Arcs,  Alinneconjons,  the 
Oncpapas,  and  other  Sioux  tribes  are  located.  Four  of  the  Government  Agencies 
on  this  river  are  filled  by  persons  selected  and  nominated  to  the  President 
by  the  Indian  Commission  of  the  Church,  the  first  above  the  Yankton  and 
Ponca  Agencies  being  at  Crow  Creek,  too  miles  above,  and  the  remaining' 
' one  being  at  Cheyenne,  nearly  200  miles  from  the  Yankton  Reservation.  It 
is  in  connection  with  these  posts  and  with  the  co-operation  of  these  Govern- 
ment appointees,  who  are. communicants  of  the  Church,  that  we  desire  to 
establish  our  Mission  schools  and  chapels  on  the  Upper  Missouri.  The  other 
Agencies  assigned  to  the  supervision  of  the  Church  are  with  Spotted  TaiFs 
and  Red  Cloud’s  bands,  and  among  the  Shoshones  and  Bannocks  in  Wyo- 
ming Territory.  Spotted  Tail's  location  has  not  been  finally  determined,  but 
it  will  doubtless  be  somewhere  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Dacota,  or  across 
the  line  in  Nebraska.  Red  Cloud’s  band  is  on  a Reservation  in  Wyoming, 
west  of  the  Black  Hills,  and  the  Shoshones  and  Bannocks  in  the  Northwestern 
part  of  the  same  territory.  In  accepting  from  the  Government  the  care  of 
these  tribes  and  the  nomination  and  supervision  of  their  Agents,  it  has  been 
expressly  stipulated  by  our  Missionaiy^  Boards  that  the  Agencies  shall  be  free 
from  all  party  domination  or  interference,  and  the  Agents  have  power  to  ex- 
clude all  persons  from  the  Reservations  except  those  whose  characters  and 
occupations  have  their  approval.  The  Government  has  agreed  to  sustain  them 
in  the  exercise  of  this  authority,  and  in  every  way  in  its  power  to  aid  in  the 
civilization  of  the  Indian. 


5 


thp:  santees,  or  KNIEE-INDIANS— their  story. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Minnesota  river,  a few  miles  above  Eort  Ridgely,  in 
the  fall  of  i860,  Mr.  Hinman,  then  a deacon,  began  the  Church’s  work 
among  the  Dacotas.  The  tribe  of  the  Santees,  with  whom  he  commenced 
his  labors,  were,  as  their  name  suggests,  of  a warlike  and  cruel  disposition, 
and  had  been  regarded  as  among  the  most  unfavorable  of  all  the  Sioux  (or 
Dacota)  tribes  for  the  reception  of  Missionary  teaching.  Through  the  efforts 
of  a former  Agent  they  had  been  induced  to  attempt  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  and  some  of  them  were  making  fair  progress.  In  1862,  their  wilder 
brethren  came  in  from  the  Plains  by  appointment  with  the  Government 
agents,  to  receive  their  annuities.  They  were  in  a starving  condition,  and 
many  of  them  had  travelled  with  their  wives  and  children  four  and  five  hundred 
miles.  They  reached  the  Agency  only  to  find  that  no  provision  had  been 
made  for  them.  In  their  hunger  and  desperation  they  first  fell  upon  the 
cattle  and  crops  of  the  “farmer  Indians, ’’and  finally,  goaded  to  madness 
by  their  wrongs  and  sufferings,  they  desolated  the  white  settlements  in  that 
frightful  raid  long  to  be  remembered  as  the  Sioux  Massacre.  The  Santees 
were  stripjicd  of  everything  and  forced  to  join  the  savages  in  their  fiendish 
work  by  threats  of  the  butchery  of  their  wives  and  children.  Their  doing 
so,  however,  was  Providential,  for  they  were  instrumental  in  saving  the  lives 
of  over  three  hundred  white  settlers.  The  “farmer  Indians,”  with  others, 
gave  themselves  up  to  the  Government  at  the  first  opportunity,  and  were 
marched  in  chains  and  treated  with  great  cruelty  along  the  road,  to  Fort 
Snelling,  on  the  Mississijipi.  From  thence  some  of  them  were  taken  to 
Mankato  and  hanged,  the  innocent  with  the  guilty.  The  Santee  prisoners 
at  Eort  Snelling  sent  imploring  letters  to  IMr.  Hinman  to  come  to  them, 
which  he  did,  sharing  their  miserable  encampment  within  an  enclosure, 
and  resuming  the  Services  of  the  Church  in  their  rude  tepees.  And  here 
was  witnessed  that  memorable  Confirmation  scene,  when  over  one  hun- 
dred men  and  women,  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  Bishop  Whipple,  were  received 
by  him  into  the  Church.  From  P'ort  Snelling  these  prisoners  were  sent  into 
a cruel  exile  on  a barren  tract  in  Dacota,  where  during  three  years,  unable 
to  raise  crops,  they  suffered  frightfully  from  hunger  and  destitution.  Over 
three  hundred,  including  all  the  young  children,  literally  starved  to  death  in 
a few  months.  They  nevertheless  erected  here  the  first  church,  built  of  rude 
logs.  IMr.  Hinman  remained  among  them  all  this  time,  sharing  their 
poverty  and  trials,  unremitting  in  his  efforts  to  inspire  them  with  Christian 
forbearance  and  fortitude,  and  striving  to  effect  their  release  from  this  second 
imprisonment.  He  acquired  their  language  and  obtained  an  influence  over 
them  and  the  surrounding  tribes  such  as  few  white  men  ever  before  possessed 
among  these  wild  Sioux.  At  length  the  Government  was  persuaded  to  re- 
move them  to  their  present  Reserv'ation  on  the  border  line  in  Nebraska, 
where  the  change  that  has  since  been  wrought  in  their  condition  is  the  theme 


6 


of  wondering  comment  by  Christian  men  and  heathen,  whites  and  savages, 
far  and  near.  Out  of  one  thousand  souls,  composing  Mr.  Hinman’s  charge,  aver 
three  hundred  are  devout  cotnynunicanis. 

Bishop  Clarkson  testifies  to  the  Mission  as  he  saw  it  nearly  three  years 
ago  : “I  really  think  there  is  nothing  in  our  day  on  this  continent  more  in- 
teresting to  visit  than  this  Santee  Indian  Mission.  It  is  impossible  for  a 
Christian  man  to  spend  a single  day  among  the  monuments  and  the  results 
of  this  heroic  Christian  eflfort  without  the  profoundest  emotions  of  gr-titude 
and  the  deepest  feelings  of  wondec  and  of  awe.  Nearly  all  the  oldest  mem- 
bers of  Mr.  Hinman’s  Indian  congregation  have  been  confirmed  and  are 
communicants.  I entreat  those  who  love  Christ’s  word  and  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  melancholy  condition  of  this  Pagan  race  that  is  passing  to  a 
heathen  grave  within  an  arm’s  length  of  our  boasted  Christianity,  not  to  allow 
this  Mission  to  be  crippled  for  want  of  means.  Mr.  Hinman,  with  one 
Indian  Deacon  and  two  or  three  candidates  for  the  Ministry  now  at  his  side, 
can  very  readily  extend  his  operations  almost  indefinitely.” 

Mr.  Hinman  writes  in  his  Journal,  1870:  “We  have  nowhere,  in  a 
population  of  fifteen  hundred  souls,  one  thousand  baptized  persons,  three 
hundred  r;nd  thirty-seven  communicants,  two  hundred  children  in  our  care, 
four  young  men  preparing  for  the  Sacred  Ministry,  two  candidates  for  Holy 
Orders,  and  one  native  Deacon.” 

The  beautiful  Chapel  and  Mission  House  among  the  Santees,  destroyed 
by  a tornado  in  1870,  have  been  replaced  by  buildings  equally  fine  and  com- 
modious, mostly  through  the  generous  aid  of  Mr.  William  Welsh.  Mr. 
Hinman  and  his  family  were  buried  in  the  ruins  of  the  Mission  House,  but 
Providentially  escaped  severe  injury. 

THE  RIPE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SANTEE  MISSION. 

We  have  a recent  letter  from  Mr.  Hinman,  in  which  he  writes  concerning 
his  work  : 

“ Our  Indians  are  now  prepared  to  occupy  their  farms,  and  in  a few  )’ears 
will  be  able  to  aid  in  our  support.  Instead  of  one  school  we  are  obliged  to 
have  three,  for  having  taken  up  claims,  they  are  scattered  for  miles  along  the 
River  and  in  the  back  country.  We  must  have  a school  sustained  at  Wa- 
pashaw,  six  miles  from  the  Mission,  and  at  Bazille,  twelve  miles.  Both 
these  valleys  are  filled  with  our  best  Indians,  who  have  taken  farms  and  built 
houses  and  are  at  work. 

“ On  Sioux  River,  both  the  Bishop  and  myself,  and  also  Bishop  Whipple, 
have  promised  the  Indians  our  influence  toward  aiding  them  to  build  a 
church,  and  promised  them  a school  absolutely,  and  we  have  maintained 
there  for  a year  a catechist  and  teacher.  This  settlement  is  peculiar,  and  is 
the  crowning  glory  of  our  w'ork.  The  Indians,  some  three  hundred  in  num- 
ber, formerly  lived  here.  [Some  of  them  are  Presbyterians.]  They  were 
fed  and  helped  by  the  Government ; but  the  long  delay  of  the  Government, 
and  the  positive  refusal  of  their  Agent  to  survey  and  allot  their  lands,  dis- 
couraged them,  and  they  resolved  to  become  independent  of  Government 
aid.  They  renounced  their  tribal  relations,  gave  up  their  Reservation  and 
all  aid  that  they  received  annually  from  Washington,  and  went  out  an  hun- 
dred or  more  miles  on  the  Sioux  River,  and  took  ‘ claims  ’ of  land,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  each,  like  the  whites,  under  the  Homestead  Act. 


/ 


They  have  now  been  two  years  on  their  farms,  and  they  have  supported  them- 
selves without  any  foreign  aid  of  any  kind,  and  their  number  is  gradually 
increasing  until  it  must  soon  include  fully  one-half  our  tribe.  This  case  is 
singular  and  commendable,  and  shows  what  has  never  been  shown  before  : 
that  Indians  can  think  for  their  children  as  well  as  themselves,  and  that  they 
are  ready  and  willing  to  do  anything  to  advance  their  own  civilization. 
Among  these  settlers  are  two  hereditar}"  chiefs,  who  gave  up  all  their  honors, 
rights  and  emoluments  to  become  citizens  and  farmers.  Both  these  are 
communicants  of  our  Church.  I feel  that  this  is  our  most  interesting  and 
promising  station,  and  that  we  ought  to  have  a church  and  school  there, 
well  sustained,  at  least  for  the  present.” 

THE  YANKTON  SIOUX  AND  THE  “LIGHT”  WHICH  THEY 

SAW  AFAR  OFF. 

“This  evening”  writes  Mr.  Hinman  in  his  Journal  of  the  Santee  Mission 
(Jan.  1869),  “a  Yankton  Indian  Pipe),  the  head  soldier  of  the  chief 

called  Feather  in  the  Ear,  came  to  see  me.  He  had  walked  forty  miles  to  be 
here  [at  Service]  to-morrow.  He  said  his  people  were  looking  this  way  for 
help  because  they  could  see  the  light  here  from  far.”  This  call  was  shortly 
afterward  followed  by  a ceremonial  visit  from  the  head  chief  of  the  Yanktons 
who  addressed  our  Missionary  as  follows  : 

“ Koda  (friend)  you  are  small  in  stature,  but  your  name  has  grown  large, 
so  that  you  seem  to  us  like  a pine-tree  of  a ravine,  tall  and  straight.  . . . 

You  have  a good  work,  and  although  these  Santees  were  very  bad,  you  have 

washed  them  and  made  them  appear  good Come  and  help 

us — go  from  nation  to  nation.  When  one  has  been  blessed,  come  on  to  yet 

another,  and  before  you  die  you  will  lead  our  people  to  a great  salvation. 
Our  people  want  you.  ...” 

This  appeal  was  followed  by  others  still  more  importunate,  and  led  to  the 
establishment  of  our  Missions  among  the  Yanktons,  in  1870.  This  tribe 
numbers  2,500  souls.  Our  first  Missionary  among  them  was  the  Rev.  Paul 
Mazakute,  a native  Santee  Presbyter,  one  of  the  five  native  clerg}^  ordained 
in  the  last  five  years.  The  Rev.  J.  W.  Cook  joined  Mr.  Hinman  at  Santee 
in  1870,  and  took  charge  of  the  Yankton  Mission  the  same  year.  We  have 
now  a Mission  house  and  three  chapels  in  different  places  on  this  Reservation. 
Over  two  hundred  have  been  baptized  within  the  last  eighteen  months.  At 
Choteau  Creek,  the  site  of  one  of  our  Yankton  Missions,  a chief  and  his 
whole  band  have  recently  been  brought  into  the  Church.  Two  or  three  of 
the  sons  of  head  chiefs  are  being  educated  in  Nebraska  for  the  ministry, 
and  others  are  waiting  to  be  taken  and  trained,  either  as  teachers,  or  for  Holy 
Orders. 

Mr.  Welsh,  who  visited  these  Indians  in  1870,  relates  among  other  inci- 
dents of  his  visit,  the  following,  showing  the  sharp  contrasts  which  are  pre- 
sented between  Paganism  and  Christianity  at  our  Missions  : 

“ We  reached  the  Yankton  reservation  on  Saturday  evening  and  chanced, 
in  visiting  by  moonlight  a cluster  of  tepees,  to  enter  one  that  was  owned  by 
a member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  was  cheering  to  hear  that  Chris- 


8 


tian  Indian,  so  lately  a heathen,  uniting  with  the  Rev.  J.  \V.  Cook,  the 
Episcopal  Missionary,  in  singing  the  praises  of  our  God  and  Saviour  in  the 
Dacota  language  ; the  bright  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  tent  enabling  them  to 
read  and  us  to  look  with  gratitude  on  the  strange  scene.  From  an  adjoining 
tepee  we  heard  the  groans  of  a child  dying  under  the  infliction  of  heathen 
rites ; and  presently,  as  his  spirit  passed  away,  there  arose  a most  piteous 
wail  from  the  whole  camp.  Whilst  these  fearful  shrieks  of  the  hopeless 
heathen  were  still  sounding  in  our  ears,  we  were  made  hopeful  by  the  strains 
of  praise  that  came  from  the  Episcopal  chapel. 

“The  Santee  Christian  choristers,  after  having  walked  some  forty  miles 
that  day,  were  in  the  chapel  chanting  and  singing,  to  prepare  for  the  mor- 
row’s Service.  On  Sunday  morning  the  contrast  between  Heathenism  and 
Christianity  was  equally  striking.  The  day  was  very  cold,  and  the  wind 
furious ; yet  the  heart-broken  father  and  his  adult  son,  both  naked,  except  a 
girdle  about  their  loins,  marched  slowly  past  the  chapel,  their  heads  bent, 
and  their  bodies  covered  with  earth,  wailing  piteously.  This  occurred  just 
as  numbers  of  Indians,  warmly  clad  in  civilized  garments,  or  wrapped  in 
their  new  blankets,  were  wending  their  way  to  the  chapel  to  unite  with  us  in 
public  worship  and  to  listen  to  words  from  the  Book  of  Life.  The  chapel 
was  filled  with  chiefs  and  Indian  soldiers  and  others  ; the  men  outnumbering 
the  women,  all  seeming  reverent  and  attentive  worshippers.  ” 

DE.SIRE  OF  THESE  TRIBES  FOR  CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZA'ITON. 

Just  as  the  wonderful  success  of  the  Santee  Mission  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Missions  among  the  Yanktons,  so  these  are  beginning  to  throw 
their  light  far  into  the  surrounding  countr)-,  and  among  the  tribes  of  the 
Upper  Missouri.  Delegations  from  the  Blackfeet  and  Matida7i  Indians  and 
others  have  waited  upon  Mr.  Cook,  and  urged  that  a INIissionar}-  be  sent 
among  them.  In  a recent  letter  Mr.  Cook  says:  “The  tribes  above  are 
constantly  sending  their  messages  or  their  delegations  to  l\Ir.  Hinman  and 
myself  with  reference  to  establishing  Missions  among  them.  I hope  the 
Church  will  soon  be  able  to  extend  her  work  further  up  the  River.” 

Mr.  Hinman  writes  to  the  same  effect,  and  pleads  for  liberal  offerings  to 
enable  him  to  respond  to  these  frequent  calls.  “After  a while,”  he  says, 
“when  the  Upper  Sioux  have  Missionaries  and  teachers,  the  Indians  will 
depend  upon  them  for  counsel  and  advice,  and  so  relieve  me  ; but  at  present 
I cannot  prevent  them  from  coming  here,  and  they  sometimes  come  in  large 
numbers.  It  adds,  of  course,  to  our  expenses,  but  it  does  them  vast  good 
to  see  here,  with  their  own  eyes,  what  Indians  can  do  for  themselves,  and 
what  we  have  done  for  them  in  the  way  of  instruction  and  sympathy.  Last 
fall,  I gave  two  wagons  to  two  Indians  (not  chiefs)  of  the  Cheyenne  Agency, 
our  outmost  post,  where  the  people  are  entirely  wild.  The  result  has  been, 
the  biiildmg  of  ten  log-houses  and  a school-house,  where  an  Indian  is  a teacher  of 
his  own  people.  They  have  done  this  under  ridicule  from  both  whites  and 
Indians.” 

THE  PONCAS— A FRIENDLESS  PEOPLE  AND  A NOBLE  WORK. 

'Phe  Indians  next  adjacent  to  the  Santees,  on  the  North  (on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  from  the  Yanktons),  are  the  Poncas,  a distinct  people  from 
the  Sioux,  with  whom  they  have  long  been  at  enmity.  It  is  but  the  remnant 


9 


of  a tribe,  numbering  less  than  800  souls.  They  have  been  steadfast  friends 
of  the  whites  for  years,  but  no  tribe  on  the  Missouri  has  been  more  neglected 
and  ill  used.  During  the  past  winter  they  have  been  in  a state  bordering  on 
starvation,  subsisting  almost  entirely  on  parched  corn.  Like  the  Yanktons, 
they  besought  Mr.  Hinman  to  send  them  a Missionary,  and  the  Sioux  pres- 
byter, Rev.  Paul  IMazakute,  was  the  first  to  help  Mr.  H.  diffuse  the  light  of 
the  Gospel  among  them.  In  1871,  the  Rev.  J.  O.  Dorsey,  of  Maryland, 
went  among  the  Poncas,  and  schools  and  a Mission  have  been  regularly 
opened.  Mrs.  Stanforth,  the  step-mother  of  Mr.  D. , joined  her  son  in 
November  last,  giving  up  the  comforts  of  a city  home,  and  cheerfully  accept- 
ing the  rude  fare  and  hard  service  incident  to  a new  Mission.  She  writes  of 
her  reception  : 

“ We  reached  the  banks  ol  the  Missouri  River  just  at  dark.  We  were  a 
long  time  making  them  hear  us  across  at  the  Ponca  Reservation,  but  at  last 
an  Indian  answered  and  asked  if  it  was  (teacher)  ; soon  we  heard 

the  boat  coming  ; we  were  very  thankful,  for  it  was  so  cold  that  I was  afraid 
we  would  be  frosted.  Our  agent,  I\Ir.  Gregory,  and  five  Indians  came  over 
for  us,  and  we  were  soon  on  the  other  shore.  There  we  were  met  by  a 
crowd  of  Indian  boys.  I believe  that  every  boy  who  heard  of  our  arrival 
came  out  to  meet  us.  I cannot  describe  my  feelings  as  I saw  that  crowd  of 
heathen  boys  around  us.  They  shouted  and  then  all  commenced 

to  say  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  English.  Such  a welcome  ! They  completely 
surrounded  us  ; they  were  rolled  up  in  red,  blue,  or  black  blankets,  and 
most  of  them  had  a feather  in  their  hair.  I was  introduced  as  Waga7iyi 
hihanaai  (Teacher's  mother),  and  introduced  also  as  a friend  of  the  Poncas. 
As  we  stood  there  on  the  river's  bank  I had  to  shake  hands  with  all  ; then  we 
started  for  Mr.  Gregor)- 's  house,  with  the  whole  crowd  of  Indians  as  an 
escort. " 

Mrs.  Stanforth  is  ministering  to  the  physical  and  mental  wants  of  these 
people  with  unwearying  love  and  patience,  and  amid  a multitude  of  dis- 
couragements. In  a recent  letter  she  says  ; “ 'Phe  sick  and  the  aged  come 
daily  to  me  for  relief.  They  cannot  eat  the  parched  corn.  Mr.  Lewis,  the 
.\gency  farmer,  was  here  this  afternoon.  I asked  him  if  it  was  true  that  the 
i’oncas  were  living  on  parched  corn.  He  said  it  was.  There  are  now  one 
hundred  government  cattle  on  this  prairie  around  the  village.  They  walk  up 
to  the  very  doors  of  the  Ponca  houses  ; but  a Ponca  has  never  been  known  to 
trouble  them,  even  when  in  a state  of  starv  ation.  Mr.  Lewis  has  been  here 
fifteen  years.  He  told  me  that  he  has  known  this  people  to  be  without  bread, 
or  even  corn,  and  that  they  would  go  into  his  corn-field,  and  break  off  the 
suckers  and  chew  them  for  the  nourishment  that  could  be  drawn  from  the 
sap,  and  yet  never  touch  a stalk  of  corn.  As  this  was  told  me,  I thought  of 
the  bread-riots  among  civilized  whites.  I do  not  like  to  go  near  a window 
and  look  at  the  Ponca  houses  and  tents,  for  I know  that  grouped  around 
every  fire  are  many  sad  hearts,  hearts  that  ache  for  their  naked  and  hungry 
children.  . . . The  destitution  here  is  truly  heart-rending. ” 

THE  CHIPPEWAS  IN  MINNESOTA— “ ENMEGAHBOWH.” 

We  have  but  a solitary  Mission  among  the  Chippewas  in  Bishop  Whipple’s 
Diocese,  where  we  should  have  several  stations.  The  way  was  opened  about 


lO 


the  time  that  Mr.  Hinman  went  among  the  Dacotas.  In  the  same  way  that 
his  flock  were  made  instrumental  during  the  massacre  of  1862  in  saving 
the  lives  of  hundreds  of  white  prisoners,  our  native  Chippewa  presbyter  (then 
a Deacon)  was  the  humble  means,  under  God,  of  preventing  an  attack  being 
made  by  some  of  Hole-in-the-Day  s band  upon  Fort  Ripley,  which  would  have 
involved  us  in  a war  with  the  Chippewas  and  delivered  over  the  northern 
frontier  of  Minnesota  to  the  scalping-knife  and  torch.  This  Indian  deacon 
was  a pupil  of  Bishop  Whipple,  the  son  of  a chief  who,  on  his  death-bed, 
yielding  to  the  entreaties  of  his  son,  renounced  paganism  and  became  a 
Christian.  He  is  widely  known  to  the  Church  as  Enmegahbowh  (“  The  one 
who  stands  before  you”),  his  Christian  name  being  John  Johnson.  He  has 
labored  continuously  among  his  people,  contending  against  bitter  opposition 
from  the  medicine-men,  and  enduring  trials  of  hunger  and  destitution  that 
would  have  disheartened  many  white  Missionaries;  but  he  has  been  the 
means  of  bringing  several  hundred  of  his  people  out  of  darkness  into  light. 
Most  of  those  under  his  ministiy  have  laid  aside  the  blanket  and  the 
weapons  of  the  chase,  and  adopted  the  dress  of  white  men  and  become 
industrious  tillers  of  the  soil,  living  in  comfortable  log-houses.  Over  200 
are  communicants  of  the  Church. 

Enmegahbowh’s  station  is  at  the  White  Earth  Reservation,  a track  36 
miles  square,  in  the  Northwestern  part  of  Minnesota.  He  has  a comfortable 
frame  chapel,  erected  last  summer,  neatly  furnished  and  painted,  and  his  con- 
gregation have  built,  within  the  past  year,  25  log-houses,  and  have  from  three 
to  five  acres  of  land  each  under  cultivation.  The  Government  is  endeavoring 
to  induce  the  remaining  tribes  of  Mississippi  Chippewas  to  remove  to  this 
Reservation,  and  it  is  reported  that  fifteen  hundred  will  join  their  brethren  al- 
ready there  this  spring.  We  earnestly  desire  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  our 
faithful  Chippewa  Missionary  in  this  most  inviting  field. 

Bishop  Whipple  visited  the  White  Earth  Reservation  last  July.  He  there 
met  the  Christian  chiefs  and  head  men  whom  he  had  last  seen  several  years 
before,  on  the  Mississippi,  in  their  feathers  and  war-paint,  dancing  a scalp 
dance  before  his  tent.  They  were  then  on  the  war-path  against  their  heredi- 
tary' enemies,  the  Sioux.  They  prolonged  their  savage  orgies  late  into  the 
night,  and  the  next  morning,  drunk  with  savage  fury,  started  on  their  hostile 
errand.  From  that  expedition  these  same  men  returned  with  bloody  trophies 
of  their  prowess.  One  of  them  is  said  to  have  taken  nine  scalps.  At  the 
close  of  the  Service  last  Christmas-day  (says  a clergyman  who  has  visited  the 
Reservation),  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  asked  permission  to  “make  little 
speech  ” to  his  people.  Among  other  things,  he  said  ; ‘ ‘ My  Brothers,  some 
of  you  have  been  watching  me  to-day,  because  my  many  tears  have  dropped 
on  the  floor.  I cannot  keep  tears  when  I see  and  know  what  that  great 
good  Man  call  Jesus  do  for  me.  The  more  I learn  of  Him,  the  more  I be- 
come you  call  coward.  Let  any  of  you  come  strike  me  with  war-club,  strike 
me  deep,  strike  my  body,  I never  feel  pain,  much  less  shed  tears.  But  when 
I see  Jesus  doing  this  for  me,  I drop  tears  on  floor.” 

The  man  who  made  this  “ little  speech”  was  none  other  than  the  hero  of 
the  nine  scalps  whom  Bishop  Whipple  saw  on  the  Mississippi.  He  and  his 


fellow-warriors  are  now  the  most  earnest  and  devout  co-workers  with  our 
Missionar)-. 

Wabashaw,  the  head  chief  of  the  Santees,  is  also  a remarkable  ex- 
ample of  the  power  of  Christianity  over  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest. 
“Thirteen  years  ago,”  says  an  army  officer,  “I  saw  this  hereditary 
chief,  who  was  also  their  great  warrior  and  medicine-man,  covered  with 
paint  and  feathers,  riding  at  full  speed  through  the  streets  of  St.  Paul,  fran- 
tically brandishing  his  scalping-knife,  under  the  influence  of  intoxicating 
drink.”  “A  few  weeks  ago,”  writes  the  originator  of  the  Indian  Commission, 
in  a letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  published  last  fall,  “ I listened  to 
words  of  great  wisdom  and  Christian  propriety  uttered  by  him  in  council  ; 
then,  on  Sunday,  I saw  a large  worshipping  assembly  in  his  spacious  log- 
house,  the  old  chief  and  his  children  reverently  engaged  in  the  public  Ser- 
vices of  the  Church.” 

“ If  the  people,”  says  the  same  writer,  on  another  occasion,  “who  are 
skeptical  about  the  conversion  of  these  home  heathen,  could  have  been  pre- 
sent, witnessing  their  reverent  worship,  and  hearing  them  sing  such  hymns 
as  ‘ yerusalem  the  Golden  ’ and  ‘ Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee ' — instead  of  re- 
maining in  unbelief,  they  would  fill  the  IMissionary  treasury  to  overflowing. 
The  Rev.  Christian  Taopi,  a Santee  Deacon,  though  quite  sick,  was  present 
at  one  of  the  Services.  That  man  is  a miracle  of  grace  ; so  humble  and  de- 
voted, and  so  zealous,  that  during  his  illness  he  could  not  be  restrained  from 
ministering  to  one  whose  life  seemed  to  be  in  still  more  danger.” 

The  Rev.  S.  K.  Stewart,  who  visited  White  Earth  Reservation  last  Fall, 
says  of  the  Services  of  the  Church  at  the  Chippewa  Mission:  “ It  would 
have  rejoiced  your  heart  to  have  been  with  that  congregation.  To  witness 
their  neat  appearance,  their  reverent  and  devout  manner  of  conducting  them- 
selves during  the  Service,  to  hear  them  devoutly  making  the  responses  so  far 
as  they  had  learned  them,  and  singing  hymns  of  praise  to  God  in  their  own 
native  tongue,  was  indeed  delightful.” 

The  same  writer  bears  testimony  to  the  unrivalled  opportunity  presented 
in  this  Northern  field  of  heathendom  for  the  work  of  the  Church.  “Though 
my  trip  took  me  through  all  the  Chippewas  of  the  State,”  he  says,  “it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  I heard  of  no  Protestant  Christians  among  them  except 
members  of  our  own  Church.” 

Bishop  Clarkson,  in  his  last  Report  to  the  Board  of  Missions,  thus  refers 
to  a Convocation  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  our  Indian  Missions  which  he 
had  attended  at  the  Santee  Mission  House  : 

“ It  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  my  whole  life.  It  would 
be  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  convey  to  this  Board  or  to  the  Church  an 
adequate  idea  of  the  great  solemnity  and  the  deep  significancy  of  this  gather- 
ing of  Christian  representatives  of  these  but  lately  pagan  tribes.  The  absorb- 
ing thought  of  these  regenerate  people  was,  ‘ What  shall  we  do  to  carry  the 
Gospel  to  the  brethren  of  our  own  blood  beyond  us  t How  shall  we  teach 
others  what  we  now  know  V One  could  almost  fancy  himself  back  among 
the  assemblies  of  Apostolic  times,  w'hen  every  heart  glo’wed  with  Missionary 
fire.  The  whole  scene  was  indeed  a most  impressive  and  inspiring  exhibi- 
tion of  the  necessity  and  power  of  true  religion  to  communicate  itself.  The 
opportunity  of  the  Church  here  is  indeed  well-nigh  unrivalled.  Here  is  a 
whole  people  kneeling  at  our  feet,  and,  with  upturned  and  hopeful  gaze,  im- 
ploring us  to  lift  them  from  the  mire  and  filth  of  paganism  up  to  the  light 
and  joy  and  purity  of  Christianity.” 


THE  ONEIDAS— 1702  AND  1872. 

It  is  a ver\-  interesting  fact,  and  one  that  ought  to  inspire  members  of  our 
communion  with  confidence  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Church  in  accepting  the 
responsibility  of  her  present  relation  to  certain  tribes,  that  the  spiritual  training 
and  social  elevation  of  these  | eople  has  been  publicly  acknowledged  as  our  ' 
solemn  duty  by  the  fathers  and  founders  of  the  Church  in  America  from  its 
very  earliest  days.  The  Venerable  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
to  whom  we  owe  so  much,  sent  over  its  first  ^Missionaries  in  1701  and  ’2  “to 
preach  the  Gospel  among  the  Six  Nations  of  the  Indians,”  and  our  present 
Church  among  the  Oneidas  at  Green  Bay,  is  a continuation  (after  a long 
lapse,  and  many  failures  and  discouragements)  of  the  work  whose  founda- 
tions were  laid  by  the  Mother  Church  of  England  in  the  Valley  of  the  IMohawk 
before  the  Revolutionary  War.  This  ^Mission  at  Green  Bay  has  been  main- 
tained under  a variety  of  adverse  circumstances,  and  its  success  teaches  us  two 
important  lessons.  The  first  is,  that  God’s  Word  from  the  lips  of  His  holy 
Church  to  these  heathen  tribes  shall  not  fail  though  a host  of  evil  influences 
be  laid  against  it — “ it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereunto  it  is  sent.  ” The 
second  lesson  meets  the  secular  objection  that  our  American  Indians  do  not 
thrive  under  civilization — that  the  race  is  doomed,  and  must  soon  pass  out 
of  existence  under  the  best  care  that  Christian  civilization  can  bestow.  Mr. 
Goodnough,  our  IMissionart'  among  the  Oneidas  at  Green  Bay,  states  ; “ Since 
1838  the  population  has  doubled,  and  as  they  advance  in  civilizattori,  the  ratio 
of  increase  contimtes  to  grow  greater."  IMr.  G.  also  says:  “ In  a population 
of  800,  aver  200  are  devout  Connn unicants.  ” 

This  is  the  story  of  the  Church’s  ^Missions  to  the  Northwestern  Indians. 
We  cannot  better  enforce  the  moral  which  it  teaches  than  by  citing  an  incident 
related  by  Bishop  Whipple  : 

IMAZASHA. 

Red  Iron  was  a man  in  the  prime  of  life  at  the  time  that  the  Sioux  sold 
their  beautiful  country  to  us.  There  were  transactions  connected  with  that 
sale  which  ought  to  make  every  American  blush  for  ver}-  shame.  I will  not 
write  it.  It  is  written  plainly  in  the  book  of  God,  and  I can  leave  it  for  the 
Judgment.  The  Indians  say  that  the  chiefs  were  bribed  to  betray  their  own 
people  ; that  they  were  deprived  of  the  Reser\-ation  which  they  had  expected  ; 
that  the  money  for  the  first  payment  was  given  largely  to  satisfy  claims  : that 
they  were  kept  waiting  until  at  last  many  of  their  people  died  of  starvation. 
Some  of  the  Indians  were  indignant,  and  made  threats  against  us.  The  Go- 
vernor sent  to  Red  Iron,  and  asked  him  what  this  meant,  and  what  he  intended 
to  do.  The  Red  i\Ian  drew  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  and  said,  ‘ I will 
leave  the  bones  of  my  people  here  on  the  prairie,  and  some  day  the  Gre.\t 
Spirit  will  look  the  White  Man  m the  face,  and  ask  him  what  has  become  of  his 
Red  Brother.  I leave  it  to  Him.  ” 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Indian  Commission  ask  the  liberal 
offerings  of  the  Church  to  sustain  these  IMissions  to  our  Western  tribes. 

22  Bible  Hoiise,  Neiv  York. 


